Had to euthanize Pacu's over the weekend
- Thread starter jagarundi
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Just a note re silver dollars, there are several species and some can easily hit 8" - 10". I have a red hook (myleus rubripinnis) and 3 regular dollars (metynnis argenteus). The red hook is bigger than the other 3 even tho he's only a few months old. Don't want to sound patronising but as already stated, research the species first to prevent a repeat of the above.AquaGhost said:jagarundi, why don't you try the Silver Dollars, sort of a miniature version of the pacus that won't get any bigger than 5 or 6 inches in diameter. I have a couple of them and like them a lo. Just one problem though: they mowed all my live plants to the root!
Hi Debra: Yours fish is 25 year old? Wow...I did not realize a fish can live that long...How big is it now? Coffee-table size?
jagarundi, sincerely gutted to hear your story and well done for sharing it.
Here's a pic of a 10" redhook taken at a show recently
How sad, I'm so sorry.
The store where I work just took in a pacu somewhere around 14" or so (hard to tell, he hides), and he's now a resident of the koi pond. When I saw him, I was thinking they'd made a great decision not to sell baby pacu, and then last Sunday I noticed a baby red tailed shark in one of the tanks! IMHO, stores just shouldn't be selling these fish without HUGE warning labels.
The store where I work just took in a pacu somewhere around 14" or so (hard to tell, he hides), and he's now a resident of the koi pond. When I saw him, I was thinking they'd made a great decision not to sell baby pacu, and then last Sunday I noticed a baby red tailed shark in one of the tanks! IMHO, stores just shouldn't be selling these fish without HUGE warning labels.
1) Move to somewhere which required LFS' to take in your fish. Here in Hawaii, LFS' / LPS' are all required to take in unwanted fish, no matter what they are or how big they become. This prevents people from dumping them into local water ways.
2) Get your state legislature to pass laws like above.
Sorry to hear you had to take such an extreme measure for a solution.
No one should be forced to do things like that!
2) Get your state legislature to pass laws like above.
Sorry to hear you had to take such an extreme measure for a solution.
No one should be forced to do things like that!
I'm sorry for your loss Jag.That is some sound advice in your post.I'm also glad your T.V.came back to life for you.
Sorry to hear.... I too a few months ago bought one red belly pacu, hes in a 20 gallon tank and about 5 inches long. I too thought he would only get 8 inches and my buddy came by and said that pacus get huge...i didnt believe him so he took me to a lfs and showed me a 20 inch pacu in a 260 gallon tank,i about bleeped my pants. I dont think wal-mart should be alowed to sell these to the public and lie about there sizes. I thought about releasing mine in a pond but he would probablly die in the fall/winter. Ive done hours and hours of research and plan to keep him.I cannot afford a glass tank so i plan this weekend to build a plywood/epoxy/glass tank around 240 gallons. I dont have money for fancy filters so im going to use a small pool filter with a makeshift bio-ball overflow resevoir. Hopefully this will serve my pacu for several years. By then i can plan on a indoor pond or something. Very sad post,i hope i can give mine his new tank soon.Ill let you know how it goes.
i dont think forcing lfs to take fish is the way to go. then what will the lfs do? most are struggling anyway and they dont all have to facilities for such large fish. my lfs only sells juvies and babies. their largest tank is about 200 gals.
they have taken in some tankbusters though. they did have a 12" golden algae eater at one time. but they found a home for it....yes those little tiny golden algae eaters that you see at almost EVERY lfs can grow to be a foot long. i was shocked when i saw him.
i've seen people walk in asking if they'll take in a pleco, pacus, or bala that had outgrown it's home. and they almost always say no and they tell them how to euthanize it. and not to dump it in the waterways.
and what happens when the fish store closes? one closed in my town and i knew a guy who worked there, he said all the fish that they couldnt sell they just euthanized.
i think the best idea is to not allow stores to sell these tankbusters in the first place. most people buy fish because they're pretty or cool looking. and most stores like wal-mart dont tell you how big they get or even what they are. our wal-marts here just have a mixture of fish. the tanks are all mislabeled. they have tags that say "guppies" over a tank of danios. and they ALWAYS have pacus! my friend who didnt know any better, wanted a pirahna looking fish..so he got a pair of pacus. i saw them and told him to "take them back!" he said "why?" and i showed him how big they get and he did take them back and complained to the manager. he asked them about the fish and they said they wouldnt get much bigger....at only 3 inches. and he didnt want a huge fish, he just wanted something to put in a 55 gal.
they have taken in some tankbusters though. they did have a 12" golden algae eater at one time. but they found a home for it....yes those little tiny golden algae eaters that you see at almost EVERY lfs can grow to be a foot long. i was shocked when i saw him.
i've seen people walk in asking if they'll take in a pleco, pacus, or bala that had outgrown it's home. and they almost always say no and they tell them how to euthanize it. and not to dump it in the waterways.
and what happens when the fish store closes? one closed in my town and i knew a guy who worked there, he said all the fish that they couldnt sell they just euthanized.
i think the best idea is to not allow stores to sell these tankbusters in the first place. most people buy fish because they're pretty or cool looking. and most stores like wal-mart dont tell you how big they get or even what they are. our wal-marts here just have a mixture of fish. the tanks are all mislabeled. they have tags that say "guppies" over a tank of danios. and they ALWAYS have pacus! my friend who didnt know any better, wanted a pirahna looking fish..so he got a pair of pacus. i saw them and told him to "take them back!" he said "why?" and i showed him how big they get and he did take them back and complained to the manager. he asked them about the fish and they said they wouldnt get much bigger....at only 3 inches. and he didnt want a huge fish, he just wanted something to put in a 55 gal.
Yes pacu do indeed get huge, I wanna say this is the current pacu record it was something like high 60's or low 70's lbs!! They should just post a picture of this in all LFS's selling pacu.
A LPS near myself display some full grown (yes, FULL grown. Most are about 16" but some look over 20) pacu's in the only way they can really be happily kept. In the middle of the isle, seperating their fresh and salt water tanks is a GIANT Rubbermaid-type tub raised on many cinderblocks. I can't even guess how many gallons it holds..... maybe.... 700? Filtered by some sort of system at one end, it's covered so I can't see it. Anyway, the pacu's have just enough room to turn around widthwise, but they can swim lengthwise to their heart's content. For a buck you can buy a bunch of feeder goldfish and drop them in.
In my life, this is the ONLY situation where I've seen large pacu's and not felt sorry for them.
In my life, this is the ONLY situation where I've seen large pacu's and not felt sorry for them.
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